New York City Sustainable Development
Initiative LaunchedEarth Institute seeks voice, profile
in NYC sustainability

Research relating to New York City takes place
throughout Columbia, but how can the Earth Institute contribute
so that Columbia scientists' visibility and impact as a resource
for the City on sustainability issues increases?

This question was explored as a dozen Earth
Institute senior faculty members gathered January 20, in a session
chaired by former mayor and current SIPA Professor David Dinkins,
to discuss the idea of an Earth Institute New York City Sustainable
Development Initiative. The session was hosted by Steve Cohen,
director of the Earth Institute's educational programs, along with
Jeff Sachs.

Sachs described the reasoning behind the New
York City initiative as threefold: the Earth Institute is regularly
asked by various people to play a role in New York sustainability
questions. Also, even when not asked by others, Columbia has a "rather
large footprint" in its community and can make a difference
by engaging in sustainable practices. Thirdly, friends of the Earth
Institute, including donors, often have a significant interest
in environmental sustainability issues in New York City.

Ideas raised as possible focal points for the
initiative included rewriting the environmental review process,
bringing together many groups on Hudson Valley sustainable development
issues, building green roofs, actively seeking partnerships with
City agencies, studying smart growth and sprawl,

In the end three priorities were chosen for
the initiative going forward, each to be further developed by senior
Columbia faculty and administrators:

Risk-Conscious Sustainable Development  Elliot
Sclar and Klaus Jacob

Engagement with active City policymakingSteve
Cohen

Sustainable development planning in ManhattanvilleEmily
Lloyd

Solid waste disposal, asthma in children, and
water supply costs are examples of issues in which the city is
actively engaged, and on which Earth Institute scientists have
conducted recent research, Cohen pointed out. An inventory of Earth
Institute New York City-related research was gathered by Roberta
Miller of the Earth Institute in the fall of 2003. This inventory
can be downloaded as a pdf by clicking
here.

The Earth Institute at Columbia University is among the
world’s leading academic centers for the integrated study of Earth,
its environment, and society. The Earth Institute builds upon excellence
in the core disciplines—earth sciences, biological sciences, engineering
sciences, social sciences and health sciences—and stresses cross-disciplinary
approaches to complex problems. Through its research, training and global
partnerships, it mobilizes science and technology to advance sustainable
development, while placing special emphasis on the needs of the world’s
poor.